Wednesday, August 31, 2005

The story,FBI Imposter Shoots, Kills Two Sex Offenders, was the inspiration behind today's Quick Poll at LarsLarson.com. (left side) The conversation prompted some interesting phone calls and a discussion at my workplace.On the quick poll I chose the "No. Performed a public service" answer. This means that if you told me right now that you knew who the killer was I would not inform the police of that information. Let me go a step further. If the killer was caught and I was on the jury then I would not be able to find him guilty. Not because I believe in vigilante justice, not because of the defendants skin color, and not because he had a rough childhood so it's not his fault. I would find the defendant not guilty within the law. Let me explain:We, as Americans and individuals, have an obligation to protect ourselves, families, and innocent life. This obligation comes from God but our laws recognize this need as well and provide for justified killing in self-defense or the defense of others.Government can't and does not protect the individual. It isn't even their mandate. Government is to provide for public safety. If someone breaks into your house with the intent to kill you, unless you are armed and prepared to defend yourself, then he will kill you. Government's job is to then respond by locking him up to protect the general public.Rarely do the police prevent crimes, they simply respond to and solve crimes. This is one of the main reasons for the second amendment.

Now, we have a government that refuses to even provide for the general public safety. The legislature refused to pass Jessica's Law that would have provided for increased jail time for sexual predators who victimize children under the age of 12.So sexual predators are released into society even though there is a HUGE probability that they will offend again. At this point your family's safety is jeopardized. There is a threat. But just like with any threat you must decide what the threat level is and what the proper response is.For some, it may mean extra vigilance. For others, they may post pictures and warnings. This man chose to neutralize the threat by killing the predators.You may argue that the threat was not immediate or readily apparent but that is in the eye of the beholder. Those of you who would judge this man must remember that certain elements of the community think that a crack-addict who is high and behind the wheel does not constitute a threat worthy of neutralizing.I'm betting that the father of the Florida girl, Jessica, wishes that someone had taken steps to neutralize the threat posed by the sexual predator who abused and murdered his daughter. Everyone recognized the danger but the government chose not to provide for the public safety and no private citizen provided for individual safety.These predators are ticking time bombs, I understand why someone would choose to defuse them. In this case we will never know how many, if any, kid's innocence and their very lives were spared by the actions of this man.Note: I am not endorsing murder or saying that all sex offenders should be killed. I am not encouraging anyone to commit any crime. The above post is simply an intellectual exercise in which I explained how I would come to a not guilty verdict in the case of a man shooting two sexual predators to death.

Impeach BushPat Buchanan... has come to the conclusion that a courageous Republican legislator should move a bill for impeachment of President Bush.

I reluctantly agree – and for the same reasons.

America was founded on the principle of independence and sovereignty. The president is betraying our most sacred national heritage.

Bush is ignoring the will of the people and he is violating the law of the land.

It will be very interesting to see what other commentators are willing to jump on the bandwagon here and who, if any, of the "establishment" Republicans will adress this issue.For my thoughts see the last post.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

No, you didn't stumble across Democratic Underground by mistake. The call for impeachment has come from Pat Buchanan.A national emergencyWhat is true of New Mexico and Arizona is true of our nation, which is now home to an estimated 10 million to 15 million aliens who have broken our laws and broken into our country. It is a mark of the cowardice of our leaders that they are so terrified of being called "bigots" they tolerate this criminality. The moral rot of political correctness runs deep today in both national parties.

The Republican Party claims to be a conservative party. But what kind of conservative is it who, to cut a few costs or make a few bucks, will turn his family's home into a neighborhood flop house?

I agree with everything Buchanan has written and more! That's the problem with writing a column on illegal aliens, you can go on and on because the problems are so many and run so deep that it's hard to confine yourself to just a couple points.As for the actual issue of impeachment, it was just a few days ago that while talking to a co-worker I brought this up. He was insisting that I could find no fault in Bush. Are you kidding? We may have a nuke in this country because of Bush, was my reply. If a bomb goes off in this country on Thursday and it was smuggled in through Mexico, we impeach Bush on Friday!But to be honest I don't have a problem with impeachment without the nuke, just over the social and economic problems created by the illegal aliens. I'm not going to go over all the ways that they are ruining this country right now, we all know most of them anyways.And can you imagine, if a republican calls for impeachment, what does the media do? Will their love for illegal aliens beat out their hatred for Bush? Whose side could they take? My general rule is that they will take the side that is worst for America but this one would throw them for a loop.

I for one am not willing to settle for "guest worker" programs, a few more border patrol agents or even the National Guard on the border. I'm not willing to settle for tough talk, "state of emergencies" or speeches.I want immediate interior enforcement of our immigration laws. I want all illegal aliens deported within days of being apprehended. I want no more state ID for them and no more government benefits. I don't want them to get health care, a building permit, a job, an ITIN, or a library card. Then, after that, I want every inch of the border that is not an official crossing to be covered. Fence it off.The funny thing is, basically all I want is for our already on-the-book immigration laws to be enforced.

Leonel Aguilera-Lazaro is a bad guy. He is currently residing in the Washington County Jail with the following charge:CRIM MISCHIEF IIPV:ATTD FORG INSTR ITHEFT IIUNLAW ENTRY M VEHICLEPV:ATT ELUDEPV:FALSE INFO CRIMPV:FALSE INFO CRIM

and...HOLD

The last one is important. (not that the other ones aren't) The agency with a hold on this criminal is ICE or immigration and customs enforcement. Aguilera-Lazaro is an illegal alien.

But I do have good news... no, I didn't just save a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico. The good news is that the state of Oregon has issued Leonel Aguilera-Lazaro a drivers license so that when driving from one criminal activity to another he can do so with the blessing of our state government!Next up.... is he registered to vote?

Bill seeks legal status for 9/11 familiesMembers of Congress from New York have written a bill to grant permanent legal status to illegal aliens whose spouse or parent was killed in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The bill would apply both to those who were here illegally at the time of the attacks and those here legally as family members of someone with a work or student visa.

Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, New York Democrat, said..."We are talking about a small number of people who have suffered the loss of a father, mother, husband or wife on 9/11," she said. "For us to allow their deportation, regardless of their status, would be wrong. I can't believe the Congress would let that happen."

No word on whether or not Ms. Maloney has plans to pardon murderers, rapists, or drug dealers who suffered a loss on 9/11.The given reason behind this move is that if deported, these newly made millionaires may be targets of kidnapping in their wonderful homelands. (obviously we should have an open border with a country where we are worried about people being kidnapped because they have some money)The real reason that this is going on is because congress is scared. The open border lobby is now seeing a public groundswell against illegal aliens and they realize that their time may be short. The policy of "look the other way" has been fine but many of our "leaders" want official amnesty and chaos which is looking more and more like a political impossibility.In taking a lesson from the radical homosexual lobby a few congressmen have decided to go with incremental change. Pick a small group that everyone can feel sympathy for, 9/11 families, and get amnesty for them. Then say "see, nothing bad happened" and identify a second group that needs amnesty. And on and on until next thing you know we have President Bush attending the gay marriage of two illegal aliens. OK, a little carried away there but you get my point.I just can't get past the fact that these people are criminals.

Monday, August 29, 2005

And you just thought it was a way to prove you are who you say you are -- before you cash a check, or buy a beer, or a drive a car, or board a plane, or get a fishing license, or rent a tuxedo, or do any of a thousand common things in which people are tempted to lie about who they are, where they live, or how eligible they are.

Nope, the only group I can think of that could have their right to vote impacted by requiring the quick flash of a common photo ID are Imaginary-Americans. From the cemeteries of Chicago to the backwoods of Appalachia to the homeless voters of Seattle, Imaginary-Americans have long been a core Democrat constituency.

Justice Ginsburg's TestimonyThe video of ACLU lawyer Ginsburg's testimony at her SCOTUS confirmation hearings. It's a lot of "I would not like to answer that question." Over and over.It's a must watch!

Sunday, August 28, 2005

Urban "Planners" and environmentalists will insist that "controlling sprawl" and otherwise limiting growth, development and progress through government restrictions does not interfere with the free market.While it is hard to predict the future the saying is that "hindsight is 20/20." So let's take a look at a report from a while back that exalts Portland (and Metro) as the greatest human invention since tenure for traitorous professors.regional goverance: portlandFormed in 1979, Metro was the country's first regional government and a key reason why Portland has become one of the most attractive, livable cities in the nation.

Yes, except for the constant violence, burglaries, horrible traffic, and the chronic homeless problem everything is great!!Portland has shown that planned growth is not anti-growth. Quite the contrary. By clearly defining where future growth is permissible, and in what forms, the city has avoided divisive political fights over new development projects.

*Cough* Measure 37 *Cough*While "planning" is often cast as an enemy of the "free market," Portland has shown that intelligent planning can maximize growth over the long term. Precisely because Portland has preserved its quality of life and not succumbed to sprawl, it has attracted such major corporations as Hewlett-Packard, Nike, Intel and Hyundai.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

Oregon Housing Opportunities in Partnership (OHOP) ProgramThe Oregon Housing Opportunities in Partnership (OHOP) program is funded under grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) and is designed to assist people living with HIV/AIDS in creating a continuum of stable, sustainable housing. The Oregon Department of Human Services, HIV Client Services Program, directly administers OHOP in addition to the Ryan White Title II program.So federal tax dollars fund the assistance but since Oregon DHS is the direct administrators that means that our state tax dollars foot the bill for things like the administrative building, the office furniture, etc.Now from the Oregon HIV Housing Task Force Meeting Minutes we have this garbage:

When working with the undocumented Hispanic community it is best to work through agencies that serve Hispanics.

OHOP will accept people without a SSN but other stable programs won't. The program needs to figure out how to serve this population and find a way to stabilize long-term housing opportunities.

Goal #2: Identify specific activities to help overcome two identified housing barriers: Persons without Social Security numbers have difficulty moving from OHOP to long-term stable housing; and Persons without citizenship documentation have difficulty getting utilities turned on.Criminals don't deserve electricity.Points made about fair housing Protections:8. Clients do not need a SSN to access housing.

Our public agencies spend a lot of time and energy on ways to get services to people with no SSN. Why are they so focused on this group? Why are they on this jihad to spend tax dollars on illegal aliens? Answer: Because liberalism is a mental disorder.In these people's sick little minds they think that by helping criminals they are somehow furthering the cause of diversity and helping those that are "vulnerable."The flaw in their reasoning is that they are rewarding CRIMINAL behavior. Trying to find places to live for illegal aliens, who are not allowed to live here, is oxymoronic.One post, two itemsWhile going through minutes of various housing agency meetings to find other things related to the above story I ran across this one and just have to pass it on. It's just too good of an example of how government mucks things up:

I'm looking at page 7 & 8 here:Stuart Liebowitz: The market study said that there is an oversupply of private-pay residents (page 44). Yet all but one of the four new one-bedroom units is dedicated to private-pay. Please clarify.Shelly Cullin: The appraisal was confusing in the fact that the oversupply was documented. The need for this project was justified because it is 100% studio units and they are turning away people who need the one-bedroom units. Eight units will not affect the market...

...Bob Repine: How many units are Medicaid approved?Marvin Pratt: All of them. Shelly Cullin: They are all approved but some units will be marketed as private-pay.Scott Cooper: The Council and agencyÂs mission is to serve low and very low-income. Yet the answer that Shelly just gave is that we are supplying market demand. How do we justify that?John Wahrgren: First and foremost we provide affordable housing. The IRS has defined ALFs as housing, so they fit within our responsibilities. Secondly, we are lenders and make sure that these loans are secure and have adequate cash flow. We are helping this project become more financially viable in order to have a secure loan because we are in the deal...

...Marvin Pratt: The Medicaid reimbursement is not sufficient. The private-pay units subsidize it.Bob Repine: In our loan portfolio, close to 70% of our facility beds are Medicaid units and approximately 30% are market rate units. In the non-affordable facilities, which we do not finance, the ratio is generally the opposite. They backfill their facilities with Medicaid beds to get the rest of their cash flow.So in mamateurer analysis it looks like taxpayer funded projects affect the "free" market for housing. Government must do this because in their zeal to provide housing for one group of people they are willing to subsidize the low-income units with not just tax dollars, but the rent money paid by "market ratetenantsts.A low-income housing complex can't support itself and can't be supported by a limitless amount of tax dollars so they are mixed into low-income and "market rate" units.The problem is that if government built the units with tax dollars that means that the market forces don't apply. This means that the rent they charge is just a made up number rather than the amount to make the project profitable but still small enough that the market will bear it.The ramifications of this are endless...

Friday, August 26, 2005

Immigration-reformers seek state of emergencyA state immigration-reform group wants Kulongoski to follow the lead of the Arizona and New Mexico governors who recently declared states of emergency in counties along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Anna Richter Taylor, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, said the letter had not arrived at the Capitol as of Thursday, but she said she was not aware of plans to declare a state of emergency.

"This is something that's not on the governor's mind right now," Taylor said. "It's not something that I'm aware of as an issue."

Oregon officials said their responsibility is to reach workers, not to investigate how they got to be workers in Oregon, which is a federal issue.Bank robbery and kidnapping are also federal issues, are Oregon officials not concerned about these crimes?Enforcing workplace-safety and wage-and-hour laws is a state responsibility, he said.

"These kinds of things are not dependent on a resident's immigration status," Corson said. "Beyond that, we feel it's important to reach out to that population because they're there. They're in the workplace."Uh, Mr. Corson, they are dependent on a resident's immigration status. Illegal aliens are NOT allowed to work in America. See About Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification

"Other services" is code for taxpayer funded programs that are illegal for non-citizens to obtain. But since government makes the laws they think that they can break the laws.The Daily Astorian offers a section to "comment" on this article. For those of you who are "citizenship challenged" the Astorian offers this article in Spanish.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

PERCENT FOR ART PROGRAM:Financial allocation process is informal, inconsistent, and may not fulfill requirements for public art

The audit was motivated in part by City Council concerns that the Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC) may not be receiving the amount of funds that it should under this program.

We did not review RACC's methods of record-keeping, art selection, and other internal processes except to the extent needed to achieve a basic understanding of them.

Important background:Recognizing "the great value of public art," the City passed an ordinance in 1980 in order to dedicate one percent of the construction costs for the "new construction or major alteration" of City buildings to the acquisition of public art.

In an effort to bring public art to areas outside of downtown, the City broadened the program in 1989 to include a wider scope of City funded projects. Allocations for public art would now be required from projects involving any "structure, park, public utility, street, sidewalk or parking facility." The contribution was also increased to 1.33 percent in order to cover other costs such as maintenance, administration, and education.I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.Also missing is sufficient detail regarding funding sources as well as the project cost components which are needed both for the identification of an eligible project as well as the calculation of theappropriate Percent for Art contribution.

When faced with a question or questionable situation what bureaucratsracrats do?Is the hypothetical project eligible? We showed it to Project Managers and others whom we interviewed and asked what they would do. Some indicated that they would allocate the most money they could and see what happened. Some used the words "messy" and "murky" to describe the process of determining the correct amount to allocate to public art. One Project Manager observed that "there are no good rules available."Way to be good public stewards. If you aren't sure if a proeligible even eligble for the percent for art program, and if it is eligible, how much money goes towards the art what do you do? Ask for clarification? Be fiscally responsible and go low? Not if you work for government and are spending someone else's money! Put out the biggest number you can think of and "see what happens."Accountability?RACC officials told us that the process to identify eligible projects and collect Percent for Art funding from Participating Bureaus is "very informal." This was verified during our audit. We found no centralized, citywide structure or process to oversee compliance.

One Project Manager complained that he "knows what they can't do, but not what they can." Only one Participating Bureau, the PDC, has developed a set of guidelines to assist its Project Managers with the overall process, although not all Project Managers are aware of the guidelines.No central mechanism for oversightAdding to the sense of informality is the lack of involvement in the program at the citywide level, specifically from OMF. OMF Financial Analysts are responsible for an annual review and analysis of Bureau CIP submissions. Several OMF staff told us that Percent for Art has"never been on their radar screen" as part of their review. We were also told by individuals in Participating Bureaus that, in most cases, their financial staff do not get involved with Percent for Art.What do you do when a program is so faulty, so informal, so inconsistent, so wildly used/misused/abused and lacks any oversight? Give them more money!From Commissioner Sam Adams:The workgroup's recommendations, including code amendments, will coincide with thecouncil's effort to increase the Percent for Art program from 1.33% to 2%...samadams@ci.portland.or.us

Public Art for St. Johns. The Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, OR invites artists and artist teams from the West Coast ( WA, OR, CA, ID, MT and British Columbia) to submit qualifications for a public art project in the St. Johns community of North Portland. We are looking for an artist(s) who can add to the experience and vitality of the community through their own artistic expression. The budget for the public art is $100,000. For more information, contact Kristin Calhoun, Public Art Manager, kcalhoun@racc.org, or 503.823.5401. Deadline: 9/23/05.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Salir AdelantedA needs and assets assessment of the Hispanic community of Multnomah County

Funded by:Multnomah Board of County CommissionersMultnomah County Department of Community and Family ServicesReally funded by: YOU!!!

The desire of Latinos/as is to salir adelante, which is a process of personal and community improvement that leads to increased self-determination and empowerment. Accordingly, this document focuses on the issues and recommendations that can transform that hope into reality. In particular, it examines low income Hispanics in Multnomah County, most of whom are Mexican and foreign born.The desire of Americans is for La Migra to deport these illegal aliens.A few umbrella recommendations that are developed further in this report include:

Hire more bilingual/bicultural staff in all types of services, andencourage more individuals to train and apply for these jobs byoffering pay incentives reflective of their additional linguistic andcultural skills.Waste tax dollars catering to criminals.

Continue to encourage greater participation in the health caresystem, and respond to the voices that expressed a need forurgent care services.Further bankrupt the hospitals and public health care systems. Raise rates for the rest of us.Incorporate into public policy those elements that encouragethe strong Latino/a family unit in areas such as housing design,social service access, childcare, and senior living.We have "public policy" centered around making social service access conveniant for one race? God help these people if I had a law degree...Remember that Latinos/as are people first, regardless of thetype of labor they provide, their legal status, or other differenceswith mainstream society.Do we apply the "people first" standard to other criminals too?Solidarity is what has enabled Latinos to make remarkable political gains as a group, in spite of their internal diversity. Solidarity is the basis of the concept of La Raza (your own people). Loyalty to the group starts by recognizing paisanos (those from your country) wherever one goes.Ah yes, much like the Klan was all about "solidarity." This is sick shit. I'm sorry, but here we have our ultra-leftist county whose only goal is to worship at the altar of diversity writing a report that if you simply switched names/country/race could have been written by Hitler.Why it is politically correct for Latinos to have loyalty to "The Race" and their home country is beyond me. If I suggest that they shouldn't have Spanish signs at the bank I get branded a "monoculturalist*" and a bigot.*I believe that this is a word that tenured proffessors at UC Berkely made up while high on acid.Many migrants live binational livesMany of the focus group participants described their lives as living in two countries. Research shows that, many Mexican people migrate back and forth to Mexico several times a decade, sometimes keeping two residences9. Many people make one trip north with little intention of living permanently in the United States, butwith each successive trip, more and more of them end up staying. Such binational lifestyles may limit the acquisition of English and disrupt education. It also challenges continuity of service provision and can stymie the formation of community in Portland.They are breaking the laws of our country repeatedly and Serena Cruz is worried that their travel could "disrupt education" of these criminals. Nice.Not having legal documents exposes workers to abusive employers and practices.Here is a sampling of comments:

The undocumented get exploited more.If you don’t have papers, they do whatever they want with you.Boo hoo. You aren't allowed to legally work in this country. By working you broke another law.Of all Hispanic family households in Multnomah County, 26 percent identified themselves as female headed, no husband present, according to U.S. Census data40.

Single parents expressed the difficulty of finding employment near their homes that pays well, that is accessible with public transportation, and that allows the parent to be home when the children are home.Nice family values. I suppose that the single moms, in addition to their above requests, would also like to be able to eat chocolate all day long and not get fat.The hidden world of undocumented workers and the informal economyA significant number of Latino/a men, women, and children, most of them undocumented, are working in the informal sector of the Portland Metropolitan area economy. Informal activities are different from criminal ones in that they include goods and services that are legal, but whose production and marketing are unregulated and untaxed.The only unregulated and untaxed activity in Portland that the Multnomah County Commisioners support! Seriously, what do Serena Cruz and co. want to do about this?RecommendationsConvene task force consisting of representatives from Oregon Health Science University, Portland State University, University of Portland, Portland Community College, Mt. Hood Community College, Hispanic Access, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Latino Network, Hispanic Services Round Table and community members. This task force can begin to identify strategies that can support community members in accessing careers for which they have been trained in their country of origin.For all their self-proffessed multi-culturalism it seems that Cruz and co. don't know much about Mexico. The only thing they teach you is to go to America and send money back!This "report" goes on for 45 pages. You eyes probably glossed over after read just these highlights from the first 19 so I'm going to stop now. I think that I've made my point. If you want to make yours:For more information about Salir Adelante please contact:Office of Multnomah County Commissioner Serena Cruz501 SE Hawthorne, 6th FloorPortland, Oregon 97214(503) 988-5219E-mail: serena@co.multnomah.or.usWebsite: www.co.multnomah.or.us/cc/ds2

Yes, I hate it when you are watching tv or playing a video game and next thing you know, you're pregnant! For all you parents out there, make sure you incorporate that into your "birds and bees" talk. You can't get pregnant from touching a doorknob but you can get pregnant from watching tv.

I'm just shocked that after all the sex-ed that students are getting that they still manage to get pregnant. I mean, those nutty Christian conservatives predicted this. But really, how could anyone else have the foresight to realize that telling young kids that having sex was ok as long as you use "protection" would have these type of consequences?Who would have thought that the change is social norms and the loss of the stigma would have had these effects. Really, I thought that when we stopped telling people that being an unwed mother was shameful and instead said that she was "empowered" we would reduce the number of single mothers.I thought that when we stopped saying that you were a slut for having casual sex and instead said that the girl was "liberated" that we would decrease the number of unwanted pregnancies and STD's.I thought that having the "everyone's doing it" statement go from back alley's to the classroom would make less people do it.Seriously though, I want to put full responsibility on parents because that is where I believe that the responsibility lies. However, the schools have made it clear their intention to go beyond teaching reading, writing and arithmetic and now teach moral and social values. (among other things)The public school system shares some of the blame with the bad parents. And yes, they are bad parents. If we want to start reversing this trend it is time to start making moral judgments like that.

The Princeton Review college rankings are out and yet again Oregon's own Reed College tops the list of schools where "Students Ignore God On A Regular Basis." Oregon actually has the pleasure of having two schools in the top five on this list with Lewis & Clark being number five.We should be so proud...The who's who of liberal on-campus student groups at Reed...

Monday, August 22, 2005

Yes, absolutely. If he is in Washington County, Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center should be able to see him. If he shows up as a walk in, however, he should be prepared to wait a couple of hours to be seen.

Here is a list of those clinics that he can go to. It does not matter whether or not he is documented. My emphasis

The email included to Word documents as attachments. (One of which can be found online HERE) My original email "question" was sent on 8-9-05 and simply inquired about a "friend" who was an illegal alien and where he could get health care.Alberto Moreno, a public servant, was helpful enought to respond on helping my criminal (and imaginary) friend. The question is, does it violate the law for public officials to help out known criminals? Our only hope would be RICO. In America illegal aliens are entitled to emergency health care but I know of no law/ruling that says they get other forms of health care, especially at taxpayer expense.I would like to see some group/individual with the legal resources pursue suing the state of Oregon for knowinly aiding and abetting known criminals in accessing services of value.And regarless of whether or not laws are broken here, do we really need a "migrant health coordinator" on the public payroll?

I know that all you libs are worried that George Bush himself is going to find out that you borrowed books at the library on indoor grow systems (we all know you aren't growing tomatoes) and the Kama Sutra. Me, I'm worried that Metro is psychologically profiling all of us in order to figure out the best way to get us out of our cars!Travel Behavior Barriers and Benefits ResearchCommunity-based social marketing (CBSM) stresses direct contact with people at the community level to promote behavioral change. It has been demonstrated that this approach can produce higher levels of success per contact than traditional media advertising.This is similar to the "Mafia approach." Metro goons will approach you with an "offer you can't refuse." Namely, they will screw up the freeway so bad that sitting next to the heroin addict on the bus will seem like a viable alternative.PROBLEM: THREE-FOURTHS OF AMERICANS DRIVE ALONE.The same data show that in Oregon only 12 percent of all travelers making tripsto or from work carpooled, 4.2 percent used public transportation, 3.6 percentwalked, 1.9 percent used a motorcycle or bike...Solution: spend 95% of the transportation budget on 9.7% of the population. Morons. If you were asked what your daily commute problem was, what would you say? That you drive alone or that traffic moves at 20mph? Just another disconnect between the "planners" and ruling elites and Joe and Jane Citizen.The most extreme motivational technique to encourage people to use transit services was in Belgium (7f ). A mayor chose to close a major "ring-way" (i.e. beltway) instead of spending money to expand and repair it. After closing the major ringway he announced that all public transportation was free. This actioimproved thehe use of public transportation by 800%, and the mayor felt that the money used to support free public transportation was less expensive than repairing and expanding the roadways.Every public official in Portland wants that guys autograph. This is what they would do if they thought that they could get away with it.Suggestions made by participants for improving the communication about alternativetravel modes included:

*Have newspapers do feature stories on the options

* Educate school children who will spread the word to parentsLike you need to convince the Fishwrapper to push your socialist agenda. They do that voluntarily. As for indoctrinating our kids, you wonder why charter schools are so popular...Side note: I always take surveys, polls, etc. Always. I make my opinion count. God help Metro if I am ever selected to sit in on one of these focus groups. This whole study is based on results of questions they have asked to citizens. (probably selected at random... from the Pearl District)Barriers and Benefits to Non-SOV Alternative Travel Modes

Employer provided free parkingExpect Metro to attempt a fee for parking rule for all employers or to somehow bully employers into providing less parking or "reduced fare" parking for carpoolers.Lack of freedom to come and goMetro says that public transit is less affected by congestion (metro/ODOT created) and lack of parking (metro/ODOT dream).Inflexibility of public transportationMetro says public transit is "generally reliable and predictable." Metro has never actually used the bus.I'm not going to list all the "benefits" of public transportation but most of the rest involve avoiding the (metro/ODOT created) traffic problems.

As transit-oriented development and lifestyles more in tune with a denser urbanform become more common, people will (re) discover the opportunities affordedby greater (though not necessarily complete) dependence on public transportation.You sick bastards. I'm contemplating running my car in the driveway while I write this right now. Do you understand what these sick people are doing? They create "transit-oriendevelopmentment" (read: use your tax dollars to build stuff) in order to make you modependentdant" on government transportation.Urban Planners (we'll just call them "Satan" for short) design neighborhoobusinessness districts, and even whole cities to be unfriendly to cars. Their goal is "behavior modification." Your behavior. They want to make it too expensive, too uncomfortable, inconvenientiant to own your own car so that you will have to rely on government to supply you with transportation.

Notice the word "controversial" thrown in there."I don't believe the board was willing to basically gut its diversity policy to make an exception for the military," said bar president Nena Cook, a Portland attorney. The bar, which licenses and regulates Oregon lawyers, "needs to stand by its principles of fairness and justice for all," Cook said.

So who does advertise in the Oregon State Bar Bulletin? Well, this google search reveals several pages where a "directory of advertisers" link was at one time. Funny thing is, the links are no longer there. I have a nagging suspicion that ads from (controversial) groups such as NARAL have been in the Bar Bulletin. (just my suspicion)As for the discrimination, the bar exalts RomÃ¡n HernÃ¡ndez for being elected to the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber, the Portland chapter of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber. (think that they will accept a black lawyer?)Merle Weiner, whose last name is very appropriate, wrote thisdisgusting piece(could be called "controversial" if I owned a fishwrapper) for the bulletin and is an associate professor of law at the University of Oregon School of Law, an organization thatdiscriminates.My point is that the Oregon Bar is simply a left-leaning group that hates the military and loves homosexuals.

Court Says Atheism is a ReligionA federal court of appeals has ruled in favor of an inmate who claimed that Wisconsin prison officials violated his rights under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because they refused to allow him to create a study group for atheists.

I love how the courts look favorably on a inmates "rights" to practice a "religion" but a 12 year old boy scout who wants to say the pledge of allegiance in school is seen a public enemy number one.The Supreme Court has said that a religion need not be based on a belief in the existence of a supreme being. In the 1961 case of Torcaso v. Watkins, the Court described "secular humanism" as a religion.

I do believe that for many people atheism is not simply a passive act but a rabid religion thacompelsls them to "evangelize" (mostly through the ACLU) and attempt to extinguish opposing belief systems. (mostly Christianity)The best part about this ruling is that is demonstrates the absurdity of the "establishment clause" arguments that the ACLU makes every day. If having no religion is a religion then asking congress (or these days, judges) to establish that belief system expressly violates the first amendment.On the other hand, having kids say a short prayer before they start their class in a public school does not as it does not establish a national religion and the school is not congress.

Friday, August 19, 2005

After venting some frustration in my last post I realized that I hadn't read this weeks Ann Coulter column. I read it, got a little chuckle, acknowleged the flawless logic and am now a little bit calmer. Read it.Cindy Sheehan: Commander in GriefFortunately, the Constitution vests authority to make foreign policy with the President of the United States, not with this week's sad story. But liberals think that since they have been able to produce a grieving mother, the commander in chief should step aside and let Cindy Sheehan make foreign policy for the nation. As Maureen Dowd said, it's "inhumane" for Bush not "to understand that the moral authority of parents who bury children killed in Iraq is absolute."

I'm not sure what "moral authority" is supposed to mean in that sentence, but if it has anything to do with Cindy Sheehan’s dictating America's foreign policy, then no, it is not "absolute." It's not even conditional, provisional, fleeting, theoretical or ephemeral.

"Certainly it's poetic justice that these undocumented workers own this land," said Morris S. Dees Jr., co-founder and chief trial counsel of the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala., which represented the immigrants in their lawsuit.

Mr. Dees said the loss of the ranch would "send a pretty important message to those who come to the border to use violence."

I don't know whether to give up and learn Spanish or form a militia. What I do know is this:Morris Dees should be deported from this country. His citizenship should be stripped form him and he should never be allowed to return. He should be publicly shamed as a traitor who has sworn allegiance to a foreign and hostile country.The Southern Poverty Law Center should be declared a subversive organization and disbanded. It's lawyers should all be disbarred.The illegal aliens who "own" the ranch should be made an example of. They have applied for visas which should be denied. They should be made to suffer through an extensive detention and deportation process.The judge who issued these decisions should be impeached, disbarred and then deported with his citizenship stripped from him. He should be made a public spectacle.The property owner should have shot and killed these illegals and said he feared for his safety and the safety of others.To be honest, it is very difficult for someone like me to know how to respond to this action. I can't condone illegal action, but what do you do when our own government gives our private property to criminals who broke the laws of our nation and were trespassing on our property?I believe, as I'm sure you do, that the actions of this unelected piece of shit judge are illegal. Our constitution DOES NOT ALLOW THIS. Our country has been perverted by lawyers and Senators and judges. Sick people who hate America.Our complacency allows this to happen. We are the ones with the restraint. While they shit on our constitution and rule of law we sit back and say "What can we do? There was a judgment handed down, we must respect it." They break the law and we are expected to follow their illegal rules.Criminals sue cops and win. Drug addicts are better served by our government than law-abiding citizens. Lawyers in black robes claim that our constitution gives the right to kill babies, homosexual marriage, and virtual child pornography. Bums are allowed to squat on government property and erect a tent city while taxpaying citizens who build a deck without the cities permission are threatened to have it smashed down.Where did we go wrong? What are the solutions? To vote in more of the same ruling elite who don't care about us? Most are only worried about their golf trips and power? Some want to engage in social engineering and change our great country into a socialist/communist nightmare.Our Senate leadership can't be counted on to pass a bill that would protect children from child molesters. The ACLU will defend the "rights" of those child molesters to meet and plot on their helpless victims. The ACLU is considered a "mainstream" group by many while the Minutemen are called fringe extremists by our elected officials.

God is considered offensive in our schools but rap music that talks about slapping bitches and selling crack is part of "diversity" and "culture." Gun owners are vilified while unwed teenage mothers are exalted for their ability to overcome adversity.I'm going to stop now. Please pray for our country.

Big money in Mexican methWhile new state and federal laws are cutting down the number of U.S. meth labs, the deadly drugs continue to flow into the U.S. across the porous border with Mexico, say law enforcement authorities.

But at the same time, seizures of smokeable Mexican meth known as "crystal ice" rose nearly fivefold, from 384 cases in the 15 months before the law to 1,875 since.

Mexican cartels have seen the profit potential and filled the vacuum created by the tough new laws in the U.S.

In all fairness to our governor and most of our legislators, they could never have seen this coming. You see, they don't believe in the free market or it's principles. They simply don't understand the laws of supply and demand.Their solution to this problem, and every problem, is "let's regulate it some more." While this may have made things slightly inconvenient for local meth cooks (who must now make that looong drive to Vancouver for cold pills) it has given the Mexican drug cartels a larger share of the market.Until our state, counties and cities get serious about locking people up, the demand will be there. Meth is a profitable market to deal in which guarantees that supply will be there as well. Our state may claim that it has reduced local meth labs (a claim that I would doubt) but even if I conceded that point, we did nothing to reduce the amount of meth in our community or the crime that goes along with it.

To do that, we need to lock people up and make our state unfriendly to the illegal aliens who are bringing the drug to our community.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

I have been getting emails and a comment on my last post wanting some background info on Senator Jason Atkinson who has announced his candidacy for Oregon governor.Sometimes the best way to judge a candidate is to see which advocacy groups like him... and which ones don't. You should also be tuning into the Lars Larson show as I am sure that he will call-in again to take questions from Lars' audience.2003 On the votes that the Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon considered to be the most important in 2003, Senator Atkinson voted their preferred position 0 percent of the time.

1999 Senator Atkinson supported the interests of the NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon 0 percent of the organization in that year.

2003 On the votes that the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon considered to be the most important in 2003, Senator Atkinson voted their preferred position 50 percent of the time.In 1999 it was 0%. I do wonder what he agreed with them recently. Will look into it.1999 On the votes that the Oregon Christian Coalition considered to be the most important in 1999, Senator Atkinson voted their preferred position 100 percent of the time.

2003 Senator Atkinson supported the interests of the Oregon Education Association 27 percent in 2003.A vote against the OEA (the local version of the NEA, considered a terrorist organization by myself and former education secretary Rod Paige) is a vote I like.2004 Based on lifetime voting records on gun issues and the results of a questionnaire sent to all state legislative candidates in 2004, the National Rifle Association Political Victory Fund assigned Senator Atkinson a grade of A+ (with grades ranging from a high of A+ to a low of F).

The issue that is noticably missing from the list is the HUGE problem of illegal aliens. It's difficult to find a voting record on that though since our politicians have their eyes closed, their ears plugged, and their mouths shut on this issue.

He is counting on a grassroots effort from Oregon's Republicans to help him campaign. I hope that all of Oregon's conservatives will take a few minutes to contact him, make their views known, and pledge their support.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

It also is dividing Hispanics, according to a report released Tuesday by the Pew Hispanic Center in Washington, D.C.

As for illegal immigration, 34 percent of U.S.-born Hispanics said such immigrants hurt the economy by driving down wages. Just 15 percent of foreign-born Hispanics think illegal immigrants hurt the economy.

Meanwhile, south of the border, where a separate survey was conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, 46 percent of Mexican citizens interviewed in May said they would move to the United States today if they could. Twenty-one percent said they would be willing to live and work in the United States without authorization.So let's sum it up: 21% of Mexico's citizens are willing to break the law. 60% of Americans who are Hispanic want to restrict licences for illegal aliens. (That's higher than the percentage of people in the legislature who want to do that) And there is a good percentage of Americans who are Hispanic who say that illegal aliens drive down wages.The defenders of illegal aliens and the open borders lobby uses the preferred liberal tactic of screaming "racist" any time someone suggests enforcing our immigration laws. Unfortunately this is a successful tactic these days as evident by the disclaimer that websites, talk show hosts, and anybody who brings up the subject must preface their arguments with. "I'm not anti-immigrant" or "this isn't about Hispanics."If you aren't "anti-immigrant" then why bring it up? I don't preface every argument I make with "I don't walk on four legs" because that has nothing to do with it. The fact that everyone feels the need to defend themselves even when a direct accusation is not being made shows the effectiveness of the "racist" accusation.But I digress, the charge of "racist" is laughable as is evident by this poll, and while I usually never respond to the charge of "racist" because that gives it some credence, I will point to this one and laugh.Read the report:Attitudes toward Immigrants and Immigration Policy: Surveys among US Latinos and in Mexico

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIESThe Community Development Coordinator is responsible for providing statewide staff direction and support to Oregon’s community arts development efforts through partnerships with local and regional arts agencies and facilitation of communications between the arts community and other aspects of the Economic and Community Development Department including regional, rural, and community development, as well as Travel Oregon.

Assist communities in the creation and support of arts councils, particularly in under served parts of Oregon.It is every Oregon communities worst nightmare to not have enough public artwork.If you ever have a lot of time on your hands and feel like looking at worthless crap that has been paid for by your tax dollars you could always take the Public Art Walking Tour.Go with a friend and make a game out of it. Ask questions like:Did that rusty thing really come from the front yard of a trailor park?Do you think that the state could have hired a cop for the price of that one?What qualifies that piece of junk as art?Is that panhandler "art" in the sense that he represents societal oppression of nonconformists and free thinkers? OK, that last one will only be said if a "real" artist is walking by.

Study errs in report of clean-air gains in PortlandPortland and Multnomah County officials were jubilant two months ago when a Portland city agency indicated that carbon dioxide emissions in 2004 had nudged just below 1990 figures. It's believed to be the first time a major U.S. urban area has documented such a decrease.I believe their exact "jubilant" words were: "See, our little socialist experiment in trying to force everyone out of their cars really did work! We just thought we were being anti-capitalist but clean air is a bonus!"But after an inquiry into the source of the numbers by a Portland think tank, a city official spotted a mistake in the report: Instead of a 0.1 percent decrease of emissions compared to 1990, there actually had been a .77 percent increase.

So instead of going down it went up. Oooops. This is simlair to the error in which Oregonlive.com, (home of the Fishwrapper, land of the cowards) cuts this story off after a "this doesn't really mean anything" rebuttle from a taxpayer funded tree hugger.The article does finish with a public official doing the Dan Rather: "We know that the test was flawed but we still believe the results."Read the analysis by the Cascade Policy Institute.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

This month’s ACCURACY TIPSDisclosing SSN and Citizenship StatusThis month’s accuracy tips have to do with how the application should be filled out by an applicant. The application (DHS 415F) was designed to capture the information of clients who apply for benefits and those who live in the same household but do not seek benefits for themselves. Civil Rights regulations prohibit us from requiring clients to disclose their SSN or citizenship when they are not applying for benefits for themselves. Therefore, in filling out the application, clients who are not applying for themselves should list their names under thesecond section of #3 on page 2 of the DHS 415F, where it says “List all other people living in your home.”

Example: Mom comes in to apply for food stamps for self and her three children. Mom lists the three children on the application as the people she is applying to receive benefits for. She lists herself as another person in the HH, and does not want benefits for herself. There are a few reasons Mom might not want benefits for herself; one might be that she is an ineligible non-citizen, and does not want to disclose her status, and does not have a valid SSN.

In the FS Chapter, Section D.6, it states that only those persons who want benefits are required to provide their SSN. Other persons living in the household are not required to provide their SSN. You will not pend the application for the SSN or citizen status of the person that does not wish to be in the benefit group. (Their emphasis)So that's the official word on how to get food stamps for illegal aliens. Mom is an illegal alien but her kids aren't, so the kids names go on the application as the beneficiaries and mom's name is simply listed as "living in the household." How dishonest is that.This workaround could also be used to flaunt laws such as Prop 200 in Arizona where a citizen initiative was passed that forbid state agencies from giving benefits to illegal aliens.But the scary part is that this is not some scheme cooked up by illegal immigrants who pass this information on to others so that they can scam the system. No, this is DHS instructing it's employees, public employees, how to scam the system to benefit illegal aliens.

In a sane world this story would have a follow up that would say the houses were designed as a clever ruse, moments after residents occupied the new complex the Immigration and Customs Enforcement swept through arresting all the illegal alien occupants and deporting them. Alas, this is not a sane world...Migrant worker housing complex offers more than shelterCalling her new home a dream come true, Ana Rosa Paniagua was joined by more than 200 people Sunday to celebrate the official opening of Salem's first year-round farmworker housing complex.

Sunday's celebration, which included a traditional Aztec blessings of the complex, was about much more than a nice, new place to live, said Larry Kleinman, an FHDC board member

Salem City Manager Bob Wells told the crowd that the city, which allocated $300,000 for the construction of the complex, plans to participate with its community.

He said that in the past eight years, 1,115 housing units for farmworkers and their families have been built in Oregon.

The American dream is to come here legally, work hard and buy your own house. The American nightmare is that people can come here illegally and taxpayers will buy them a house.

Monday, August 15, 2005

If you are a registered Democrat you need to ask yourself: Do these people represent me?Arresting the Drug LawsCole wants to remove the profit motive from the equation by legalizing drugs and having them supplied by the government. “Organized criminals and world terrorists would be monetarily crippled for many years to come,” Cole says.Government really needs to start selling drugs. The only side benefit to this is that government would probably do a worse job at delivering the product than the "private enterprise" drug dealers do.

California Superior Court Judge James Gray, author of Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed and What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs, wants to decriminalize marijuana. That would generate $2 billion annually in tax revenues that could be spent on education and drug treatment, he says. The government should regulate the quality of marijuana, he says, so tokers would know their weed won’t be laced with poisons.Government is willing to sell our souls for tax revenue. Why not tax contract killings while their at it?“Would it result in more marijuana usage?” Gray asks himself. “Yes, at least for six months, but then rates would be more like Holland’s.”Yes, the usage of an addictive substance would increase but then magically taper off or decline. That's the way it usually works with addiction right?He goes on to wonder why so many one-time drug users are imprisoned for crimes that didn’t harm a third party. “What the public doesn’t realize is that when you take a breadwinner out of the family and incarcerate him, it has a ripple effect,” he says. “There is nothing but negative about jailing people.”Usually the "breadwinner" in the family isn't on drugs. But I guess this just goes to show you what the progressives think the average family is like. As for "nothing but negative about jailing people," how about less crime. Isn't that a positive?The people who write this can't see beyond the tax revenue and their fond hippie memories. Thankfully a clear majority of Americans disagree with this proposition. (although in the democrat party in Portland they may have a large constituency)

The Regional Travel Options program works collaboratively with state and local jurisdictions and agency partners to promote travel options to single-occupant motor vehicles throughout the metropolitan region. This includes carpool and vanpool services, employer outreach, special programs support for transportation management associations (local employer-based nonprofit organizations that promote travel options to their employees) and program performance evaluation.

I know that I have promised a direct comparison of the cost per mile of a "multi-use path" and new road construction or road widening but I am having the damnedest time finding a project that is just that. As far as I can find all road projects involve bike path striping, new sidewalks, planted medians, improved bus access, etc.That all projects are designed to accommodate a small fraction of the population while ignoring the majority of commuters, travelers, shoppers and recreators is very frustrating to me.Please feel free to check for yourself at the Project descriptions and maps page and let me know if you find a project that is designed just for automobile (read: the majority transportation option) use.I would also suggest that you email the above metro email address and ask them when they are going to put priority on your transportation needs. As always, be polite, i.e. don't call them communist car-hating bike path nazis.

Judge Rules: If Feds Won't Enforce Immigration Laws, Locals Must NotThe Open Borders Bloc successfully mobilized this summer to put down an unexpected outbreak of the rule of law. The rebellion was brief but threatening, as local law enforcement clearly overstepped their bounds and began enforcing laws willy-nilly--leading many in the ruling elite to wonder where it all might end. Luckily, a judge was able to step in and stop the law before it could be enforced again.

This is another great column by the Mac. His closing statements,You never really lose until you stop fighting.

Charge them with something. Anything.

should be the motto of all of us who are fighting against both political parties and the establishment on the issue of illegal aliens.

The 6-mile Trolley Trail is a multi-use path that follows an abandoned streetcar right of way between Milwaukie and Gladstone.Only $275,000 per mile.Eastside Streetcar: Northwest 10th/Lovejoy to OMSIFunding category TransitTotal project cost $84,000,000

This project will fund preliminary engineering for extending the Portland Streetcar system by 3.4 miles from the Pearl District to the east side of the Portland central city.Only $24,705,882.35 per mile.MAX Multi-use path: Cleveland Avenue to Ruby JunctionFunding category Bike/TrailTotal project cost $1,383,000

Four segments of off-street trail adjacent to Marine Drive will be completed, making a continuous 9.1-mile off-street trail from Northeast 28th to Northeast 185th avenues. This project also will complete .9 miles of bike lane between Northeast Sixth and Northeast 28th avenues that are an on-street alternative to the Bridgeton portion of off-street Marine Drive Trail.Only $184,000 per mile.Springwater Trail: Sellwood Gap: Southeast 19th Avenue to Umatilla StreetFunding category Bike/TrailTotal project cost $1,815,000

This project completes a missing link in the existing multi-use path. This .9-mile section of path will run adjacent to the Oregon Pacific railroad tracks from Southeast Umatilla Street to 19th Avenue.The full price tag is for less than one mile.I think that you get my point. I was looking for a project were they are widening a freeway so I could do a cost comparison, I was hoping to show that it is cheaper to widen a road than build a "multi-use trail" but I can't seem to find a project like that on their Project Priorities page.The ones that do talk about streets have descriptions like:This project constructs bike lanes and sidewalks along the north and south sides of Southeast Jennifer Street between 106th and 122nd.andThis project reconstructs the existing street to include sidewalks, turn lanes, landscaped medians and bike lanes.Let me take a shot at liberal hysteria here: (read aloud in frantic voice that doesn't let you get in a word edgewise) Metro is causing global warming!!! The stop and go traffic is polluting the planet and destroying the ozone!!! If the roads had the capacity to move cars at the posted speed limits we could reduce pollution and our dependence on foreign oil!!! NO BIKE PATHS FOR OIL!!! NO MAX TRAIN FOR OIL!!! Halliburton has brainwashed you into spending money on light-rail!!! Look at the cost overruns!!! Dick Cheney, Texas, Tom DeLay, aaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!

Big-box bluesNational megastores scouting the Portland region for sites search out one common ingredient: people, and lots of them.

That's why large retailers want to locate near centers designed for urban living: Portland neighborhood hubs and suburban downtowns.

But many elected officials worry that large stores will spell death for the centers, which have developed with millions of dollars in local government investment.

They want more authority to turn away the so-called big-box stores. Short of that, they want a strategy to help their own live-and-shop districts compete. Both will be considered this fall at Metro, the regional government.You want to "compete?" Try the free market you idiots. Oh that's right, everything government does fails miserably when forced to compete on a level playing field.Politicians from Hillsboro to Gresham foot the bill for plans and land to carry out an urban revival theory that plays well in earthy do-it-yourself Oregon. They envision shoppers with coffee in hand combing farmers markets and popping into friends' condos down the block. Metro has designated about 40 such places as "centers," each with its own personality.This story mirrors my post from yesterday. Our "planners" at metro and local government would like to change our behavior and culture. They don't care if you want to save some time and money at Wal-Mart, they want you to sip a latte and pop into your friends condo downt he block.What makes government think that it's their job to do this kind of social engineering? Especially when they can't do their first mandate which is public safety. This really seems communist to me that government makes decisions on who gets what, when, and for how much depending on our elite leaders "vision" for our community.In Gresham, where a decade of planning and subsidies fueled development along MAX light-rail lines, city officials are poised to reject a Wal-Mart Supercenter.

They want to reject Wal-Mart because it would interfere with what the government has done, against taxpayer wishes I might add, to the area. And really, I don't see the Gresham city planners sitting at the Rockwood MAX station at 10:00pm sipping their coffees. Wonder why that is?And it's no doubt that the Fishwrapper always takes the side of government. Here's something interesting. A man named "Bernard" is quoted in this story multiple times but we never find out who he is:...Bernard says...Bernard saysBernard says......Bernard says"All of us have to do things to make ourselves unique," he says. "But we don't need to bring in more competition."

"Bernard" who may in fact be a made up character, doesn't understand capitalism very well.Local governments generally hang their denials on land-use zoning and traffic. Current laws don't allow them to consider competing business districts.GreshamFirst, a group opposing the city's proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter, is nudging the Gresham City Council to look at the issue. During a recent council meeting, members spelled out their fears. Among them: Big-box stores could hurt existing businesses and jobs.So local governments violate the spirit of the law by turning away business for a false reason. This is like an employer not hiring someone because they are black but saying it is because the position is filled. Wal-Mart faces the same kind of discrimination from Metro and local governments.Feel free to write to your Metro councilor with your feelings on this post and my previous post.*UPDATE*Email I received from my (really hardworking) Metro Councilor:Thank you for your e-mail. I will be out of the office until Sept. 6. If you need a response before then, please contact my assistant LinneaNelson at 503-797-1886 or nelsonl@metro.dst.or.us.You may also call the Metro Council office at 503-797-1540.Thank you,Carl HostickaMetro Councilor, District 3(503) 797-1549

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Perhaps the only development program devised by government that is more pernicious than the high-density Urban Growth Boundary land use rules is Transit Oriented Development. What is transit oriented development? Through Transit Oriented Development (TOD), communities encourage higher-density residential and commercial development near bus lines, streetcar routes, and train stations. This proximity increases the likelihood that transit services will be better used by the public. Such increased usage, in turn, makes the construction and operation of transit easier for governments to finance.

Yes, with TOD it makes life easier on government by making it cheaper to finance their pet projects. Notice how it does not make your commute easier, your shopping easier, or your time to destination any faster.Jennifer L. Dorn, after being introduced by our own Earl "Bow-Tie" Blumenaur had the following things to say in a speech at the Rail-Volution Conference:The world that liberals dream of:The traditional nuclear families that made up 40 percent of households in 1970, now comprise less than 25 percent of households. And that percentage is expected to decline even more. In just one generation, the ÂtypicalÂ American household wonÂt have children living in it. In fact, nearly 70 percent of households will not include children. These households will consist of singles, empty nesters, and couples without children. And these are groups with a proven preference for our cities and the transit options they provide.

That icky, non-progressive world that liberals mock, ridicule and would rather leave behind:When we think about the American Dream, we tend to think about the post-World War II vision. The American Dream was something that Americans would DRIVE to. In the popular lexicon, the American Dream meant a two-parent family with two children (one crew-cut boy and one pig-tailed girl, of course), and a dog -- all ensconced in a suburban tract house with a big yard surrounded by a white picket fence- and a roomy automobile parked in the garage to carry Dad to his job in the city each day.Remind me again, was AIDS, drive-by's, teenage pregnancy, rampant homelessness, drug use, etc a problem back in "those times?"Reality check:There are clear signs that people are getting tired of the isolation that the car culture tends to create, and they are growing weary of having to get in the car for even the simplest of errandsÂ The fact is, a gallon of gas for a gallon of milk is a terrible exchange rate.I would venture that Ms. Dorn has never tried to take 3 screaming kids on the bus, in the rain, in December to get a gallon of milk. Rather than have the trip take 15 minutes it will take about 45. And good luck buyicartfullrtful of groceries, you know, the way that most people shop, when taking mass transit.The transit crowd isn't just about "saving the ozone" but radically changing Americas families and lifestyles. They envision hip 20-somethings who lead selfish lives with no children to burden them, they will dwell in high density condos in the middle of downtowns. The icky suburbs (or sprawl in their language) will be outlawed through land use planning.On the left and right coast no one will have a yard for the dog. No one will be able to have a car because there will be no where to park it. We will all take the MAX to our jobs with the local government while relying the heartland to continue to supply enough federal tax income to subsidize our urban lifestyles.Of course, this vision is very flawed. The urban utopia is a farce. The shootings, the aggressive panhandling, the high housing prices, and the mass exodus of families has shown us that Portland is not where normal Americans want to live.